Fleete was a graduate of Richton High School (MS). She attended nursing school in Houston, TX, for a period of time prior to the death of her father, Ernest D. Wilkes, Sr., in 1931. At that time she returned to her home in Petal (MS). In the early 1930s she was employed at Reliance Manufacturing Company in Hattiesburg. It was during this time that she met Howard Knutson, a salesman for the Simonize Company. They were married in Florida. Until the late thirties and the World War II era, they traveled to many sections of the country, with Howard working as a Simonize representative and salesman. With the advent of World War II, Howard joined the US Navy. Norfleete went to work in a defense factory in California, as did many wives during the war.

With the war over, Howard and Norfleete returned to his home in Wisconsin where their only child, a son, was born. Shortly afterward, they moved to Petal, where they lived while Howard was enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi studying for a degree in Geology and Geography. Upon graduation, they moved to Houston, TX, where he was employed by the Texas Highway Department until his early death from a stroke.

While in Houston, Norfleete was active with her church and the Cub Scout movement.

Later she moved to California to be near her adult son. She lived with her sister there.